Spiritual Meaning Of Numbers

Numerology is a term for the ancient study of numbers and how they relate to our lives. It is a philosophy that has many influences that are thousands of years old. There are three main forms of numerology in use today. They are Western – Pythagorean, Chaldean, and Hebrew-Kabbalah. They are different in specific ways. The Chaldean and Western systems are based on numerical interpretations of a letters position in the alphabet. The Kabbalah method is derived from a letters sound. The Western and Kabbalah methods use the numbers 1-9 and the Chaldean method only uses the numbers 1- 8, as the number 9 is held to have sacred significance.

The Chaldean number system arose in the Persian Gulf area in what used to be called Babylonia. In the Chaldean system the letters of the alphabet are assigned as follows: (9 is not used)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

A B C D E U O F

I K G M H V Z P

J R L T N W

Q S X

Y

Kabbalah or Qabala Numerology arose out of Jewish mysticism. In this practice, it is believed that the Torah -the first books of the Hebrew Bible, contained hidden meanings. It was the belief that these hidden meanings could be interpreted using Kabbalah numerology and the true holy teachings could be understood. It was originally structured around the Hebrew alphabet which only has 22 letters. It has since been modified twice for the Greek alphabet which contains 24 letters and for the Roman alphabet which contains 26. In the Kabbalah method, unlike the Chaldean and Western systems, only the letters of the name are used and they are not combined with the birth-date.

The Western or Pythagorean numerology has roots to the Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras. He felt as though the universe could be expressed numerically. The Western system assigns the letters of the alphabet as follows:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

A B C D E F G H I

J K L M N O P Q R

S T U V W X Y Z

The Ancient Chinese had an ancient text known as the I Ching -“Book Of Changes” or “Classic of Changes”. The book is based on a symbol system that is used much like numerology to understand natural and personal events. It was well established during the Zhou Dynasty and many believe that Confucius is responsible for later additions.

The Ancient Egyptians believed that certain numbers had spiritual significance, especially the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7 . These concepts were included in the “Book of the Dead”.

The Mayans were also very accomplished mathematicians and had strong religious views on the relationship between nature and numbers. The Mayans used a base 20 system as opposed to a base ten system.

There is frequent mention of numbers being significant in the Bible. In Christianity, the God entity symbolized the number one. The Lord God is referred to as “The One”. Other numbers with a common occurrence in the Bible are 2, 3, 4, 7, 12, and 40.

In modern numerology there are concepts such as: Life Path Number or Soul number, personality number or destiny number and personal year and personal month. These are the concepts that are used when a psychic reading by numbers is given.